Liver Become Mortal Sword Immortal

"Not bad." Yun Shu shook his head. "I'm just a little drained for now. It's nothing serious."

After unleashing Sword Qi four times in a row, it would've been stranger if he weren't drained.

Only when Lin Yang saw Yun Shu's still-trembling hands did he believe that Yun Shu had really been practicing swordsmanship that morning, not practicing "swordsmanship."

"Is that so? Then rest for a bit. Take this Qi Nurturing Pill first." Lin Yang took out a Qi Nurturing Pill and spoke with a worried expression.

"No need, Senior Brother. You can go check whether the Old Man has anything else valuable on him." Yun Shu smiled and shook his head. "I'll be fine after resting a little."

"All right, then." Lin Yang put away the Qi Nurturing Pill and walked over to the Old Man.

He was still shaken by the Old Man's strength. That ghostly power had far surpassed his own, leaving him utterly unable to fight back.

And yet, Yun Shu had killed him with two strikes of Sword Qi. That was enough to show that Yun Shu had become one of those powerful figures whose strength Lin Yang could scarcely imagine.

The Menial Disciple who had once done missions alongside him had now become one of the few powerful cultivators in the Outer Sect.

"There's nothing good here. Just these tattered clothes." Lin Yang thoroughly searched the Old Man, stripping his skeletal corpse completely bare.

Only then did he find two bamboo slips.

"Ghost Shadow Steps, and this is Thunderclap Fist. These must be the techniques the Old Man just used. But neither seems outrageously powerful. Maybe the Old Man was past his prime and couldn't bring out their full potential." Lin Yang analyzed.

"Ghost Shadow Steps should be a Mid-grade movement skill, so it's fairly valuable. Thunderclap Fist is low-grade."

Yun Shu paused. "Martial Techniques are divided into upper, middle, and lower grades?"

"That's right. Take the Falling Cloud Palm the sect gave us, for example. It doesn't even count as a Martial Technique. It's considered unranked, not even low-grade. If you turn them in to the sect, a Mid-grade movement skill can be exchanged for over a hundred Qi Nurturing Pills, and this low-grade fist technique can get you fifty. But they'd definitely fetch a higher price at the market down the mountain."

Yun Shu nodded slightly. His understanding of these fundamentals was extremely limited. He still needed to learn more in the Scripture Pavilion, and that was exactly what he planned to do when he returned.

Otherwise, when traveling the jianghu, he wouldn't recognize certain things or know what they were. His knowledge would be limited, and the more he knew, the better his chances when danger arose.

"Fine. We can decide whether to exchange them when we get back. Did he have any other pills on him?"

"None." Lin Yang shook his head. "He probably used them all to keep himself alive."

"But the Dynasty didn't even tell us this man existed. They caused us to misjudge the mission's grade. I'll report this to the sect when we get back and ask them to pass judgment."

Yun Shu replied, "Maybe the Dynasty didn't know he was still alive. That would be perfectly normal. If they really knew, they wouldn't have dared do this."

Of course, it was also possible that the Dynasty had deliberately arranged things this way, using the sect's disciples to test the waters and see whether the Old Man was still alive.

That involved a struggle between the Dynasty and the sect. They were only low-ranking disciples, with no say in the matter. Even if the sect knew, what could they do?

Yun Shu glanced at Lin Yang's indignant expression, then smiled. "But even if you really report it, whatever punishment the sect gives the Dynasty has nothing to do with us. What matters is, how should we explain killing the Old Man?"

"Just tell them the truth," Lin Yang said. "With Junior Brother Yun's strength, you could rank among the top hundred on the Outer Sect Disciple Ranking, maybe even the top ten."

"But what would that solve? Wouldn't the sect just investigate me, giving me a pile of trouble?" Yun Shu still smiled.

Lin Yang paused. That was true. Junior Brother Yun's cultivation speed was far too fast...

It would be better not to draw attention for now.

After all, Junior Brother Yun only had a Triple Spiritual Root. If he attracted trouble, the consequences could be endless.

"I didn't think it through," Lin Yang sighed.

Yun Shu braced himself and sat up. "Once I've rested, we'll go raid the bandit stronghold. Whatever we can get, we'll get. Let's just treat today's events as an ordinary mission. That old geezer was worth a hundred and fifty Qi Nurturing Pills, so we've already gotten our money's worth."

"Good!"

A day later, Yun Shu and Lin Yang returned to the sect.

The Fat Steward received them as usual.

"What, you completed the mission?" The Fat Steward took the mission token Yun Shu handed him with a beaming smile.

Very few people here completed A- or B-grade missions each month. C-grade missions were already the highest they usually handled. After all, this was only the Outer Sect, where even the strongest Outer Sect Disciples were no more than the Third Layer of Qi Refining.

A- and B-grade missions were generally given to Inner Sect Disciples, or to Deacons and elders who were confident they could handle them.

"Mm, it's done. I'm here to turn in the mission," Yun Shu said.

"One Body Tempering Stage Six, and two Body Refining Fifth Levels." The Fat Steward looked at Yun Shu in surprise. "Did you do it alone?"

"I had a friend with me." Yun Shu glanced at Lin Yang.

The Fat Steward nodded, but even so, he couldn't help marveling.

This man's strength really was outrageously formidable.

For one thing, he'd been able to fight a Body Tempering Stage Six cultivator and a Body Refining Fifth Level cultivator on his own, and kill them. Judging by the distance, he'd probably done it in less than a day.

Even if he'd used some special method, that was still an astonishing feat.

"Normally, the Dynasty is supposed to submit the information to us. We issue the orders to them. But I trust you." The Fat Steward chuckled. "Here are a hundred and fifty Qi Nurturing Pills. Take them."

"As for the other spoils, since they're not Demonic Beast-related, I won't take them off your hands." The Fat Steward smiled. "You can sell them at the market."

"All right." Yun Shu nodded.

It seemed the Fat Steward only bought things related to Demonic Beasts. He couldn't sell the other spoils to him.

There was no need to hand everything over to the Fat Steward, then. He could just take it all to the market in the future.

"Thank you."

Yun Shu collected the Qi Nurturing Pills. The Fat Steward also inscribed the Contribution Points on Yun Shu's Jade Token and handed it back.

"One point for a D-grade Mission, three points for a C-grade Mission. You now have seven Contribution Points in total," the Fat Steward said. "Since one of those missions was completed together, I've counted your share as half and added it for now. But if you team up on another mission later, I'll deduct it."

"I'd like to go to the Scripture Pavilion's second floor to learn the basics about the continent and cultivation. How many Contribution Points would that cost?" Yun Shu asked.

"For the basics, one Contribution Point lets you read for a month. As for cultivation techniques and Martial Techniques, a low-grade one costs three Contribution Points, while a mid-grade one costs five." The Fat Steward didn't mind explaining. He smiled as he spoke.

"Of course, you can also buy them with pills like Qi Nurturing Pills. For example, three hundred Qi Nurturing Pills can buy a mid-grade Martial Technique." The Fat Steward smiled. "With what you have now, you could give it a try."

Yun Shu: "..."

Hadn't Lin Yang said that a mid-grade Martial Technique could be sold to the sect for a hundred and fifty Qi Nurturing Pills? The sect turned around and sold one for three hundred?

And this was only a Reprint Edition, the kind they could copy endlessly?

The Fat Steward hadn't mentioned any upper-grade Martial Techniques. Perhaps he thought Yun Shu couldn't afford one yet, or didn't need one for now.

Yun Shu nodded lightly. "Thank you."

"Are you heading to the Scripture Pavilion's second floor, Junior Brother?" Lin Yang guessed what Yun Shu was planning. After all, Yun Shu had wanted to improve his basic knowledge for quite some time.

"Yes." Yun Shu nodded. "I want to go now."

"All right." Lin Yang continued, "Then I'll head back first. Come find me if you need anything."

"Mm." Yun Shu nodded, then headed for the second floor. "Senior Brother Lin, come find me too if you need anything."

The Fat Steward glanced at Lin Yang and smiled. "It's rare to see such a motivated disciple. You've got a good friend."

"Indeed." Lin Yang smiled, cupped his hands to the Fat Steward, and left.

Yun Shu reached the second floor. The Deacon there was an old man with an otherworldly bearing. He glanced at Yun Shu and asked kindly, "Are you here to read, or to exchange for a Martial Technique or Immortal Art?"

"May I ask, Deacon, how many Contribution Points an Immortal Art costs?"

"The cheapest one costs a hundred," the Old Man replied, gently stroking his beard.

A hundred.

Yun Shu couldn't help clicking his tongue. That was outrageously expensive.

But for disciples at the Body Refining Peak, or those who had entered the Qi Condensation Stage, a hundred Contribution Points didn't seem especially difficult to earn.

Take Yun Shu, for example. In just a few days, he'd already earned nearly ten Contribution Points.

If he were at the Body Refining Peak, he could probably grind through missions even faster.

There was certainly some difficulty, but it wasn't all that great.

"Thank you for explaining, Deacon." Yun Shu continued, "I'd like to have a look at some books."

"Very well. Give me your Jade Token," the Old Deacon said with a smile.

At that moment, Yun Shu felt that these Deacons really did have good manners. They weren't arrogant or rude in the slightest.

After a little thought, he realized why.

Most of these Deacons had no hope of becoming immortals. Their aptitude had reached its limit, and they couldn't continue advancing to become elders or the like. So all they could do was curry favor with the new disciples.

These disciples were all promising prospects. Besides, answering questions and offering guidance was part of the Deacons' duties. If they did their jobs well and a disciple eventually rose to prominence, that disciple might help them in return.

If they had no potential for cultivation, perhaps wielding a little authority wasn't so bad?

"Seven Contribution Points despite having just entered the sect. Not bad, not bad." The Old Man looked at Yun Shu, then crossed off an entry. A flash of golden light flickered over the Jade Token before it settled again.

"You can read any of the books on this floor. For Martial Techniques and the like, you'll need to go to the third floor," the Old Man said. "You probably already know the rules: one Contribution Point lets you read for a month, and the books here can't be taken away."

"I'll remember. Thank you."

Yun Shu walked inside. The space was vast, with tens of thousands of books on the shelves. Some were Thread-bound Books, while others were Jade Slips or bamboo slips.

Most of the materials were rather miscellaneous. The most valuable were the cultivation insights left behind by senior cultivators—the distilled lessons of a lifetime of cultivation, which could save others from countless wrong turns.